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Chickenpox/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby A boy, Tim, is wearing his pajamas and lying in bed. There are red spots on his face and arms, and he is scratching himself. A robot, Moby, watches him. MOBY: Beep. TIM: This is ridiculous. I'm too old for chicken pox. Moby hands Tim an envelope. Tim reads from the typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, What is chicken pox? From, Kayla. TIM: Well, first of all, chicken pox doesn't have anything to do with chickens. An image shows a chicken. A large red X is drawn over the image. The chicken turns its head to face the viewer and clucks. TIM: It's a disease caused by the Varicella-zoster virus. An image shows two virus particles with human faces. TIM: Chicken pox is a classic childhood disease. Most people get it when they're kids and come through it just fine. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, there used to be about four million cases of chicken pox per year in the United States alone. Images of sick children's faces appear on a map of the United States. TIM: But the number of cases has gotten a lot lower since a vaccine was released in 1995. An image of a hypodermic needle appears, and the images of sick children's faces disappear. TIM: Chicken pox can cause flu-like symptoms, like vomiting, fever, and just plain old feeling sick. Images on a split screen show a sick young girl with spots on her face, the same girl with a thermometer in her mouth, and the same girl in bed. TIM: But the classic sign is lots of irregular, red bumps topped by clear, fluid-filled blisters. Ick. The image of the sick young girl zooms in on the red bumps on her face. TIM: And the most annoying thing about them is that they itch, a lot. Tim scratches his red bumps. MOBY: Beep. TIM: I know. I'm trying. You have to be careful not to scratch them, because they can scar or get infected. Oatmeal baths can help, and so can some anti-itch lotions. Images show a box of oatmeal and a bottle of calamine lotion. MOBY: Beep. TIM: This is true, but even if you're good about not itching, the fluid will break out of the blister a few days after it appears. That fluid is really contagious, because it carries lots of tiny little viruses. An animation shows a blister containing two human-faced viruses. TIM: The sores stop being contagious after they crust over, and fall off like little scabs after about seven days. An image shows an arm with some red, crusty sores on it. The sores fall off one-by-one as Tim continues. TIM: You can be contagious for a couple of weeks, though, because new blisters pop up at different times. New sores appear on the arm, then fall off, as Tim speaks. TIM: Because it's so easy to catch, it's important to stay away from people who haven't had chicken pox when you're contagious. That's why you have to stay home from school, even if you feel OK. Of course, even keeping away from people won't stop the disease, because it can spread through the air really easily. An animation shows a young woman coughing. A cloud of viruses floats from her mouth, and a passing mailman breathes it in. TIM: Once you've caught it, the virus has an incubation period of 10 to 21 days. An incubation period is the amount of time a disease takes to start producing symptoms. So for chickenpox, you could be walking around with it for a while before you notice anything. An image shows a wall calendar, with highlighted days representing the incubation period. TIM: You're also contagious for two whole days before you start seeing any symptoms. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, for the most part chicken pox is no big thing. Usually, the only treatment a kid will need is medicine to lower the fever and soothe the itching. But some doctors highly recommend getting the vaccine, because chicken pox does carry a slight risk of serious complications, including brain swelling, pneumonia, and skin infection. An image shows a doctor in a lab coat, pointing at a hypodermic needle. Images follow of a human brain, a young girl coughing, and an arm with sores on it. TIM: For most people to get it, though, it's just a temporary nuisance. One cool thing is, once your body has successfully fought off the virus, you're immune to it. You pretty much never have to worry about chicken pox ever again. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Oh. Well, some people do get it after early childhood. What a pain that is. And it's rare, but actually, some people do develop it more than once, especially if they have a mild case the first time around. Two images show a girl as a child and as a teenager. In both, she has spots on her face and a thermometer in her mouth. TIM: Basically, their body didn't build up enough immunity against the virus the first time around. That's the body's ability to defend against a disease. Tim scratches his arm. One of Moby's arms elongates and wraps around Tim several times like a snake. TIM: Are you sure this is the only way to keep me from scratching? MOBY: Beep. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts